Rising welfare bill is now completely unsustainable

SINCE the beginning of the recession five years ago, incomes for working households have risen by 10 per cent but those for benefit claimants have risen by 20 per cent.

Published: 07:18, Tue, March 26, 2013

Benefits need to stop being the easy option

And still the welfare bill keeps rising though the coalition has repeatedly pledged to reduce it. Jobseeker's allowance, income support and housing benefits were supposed to have been curbed, saving £4billion over the next three years and doing something towards alleviating public frustration at the out–of–control welfare bill.

But now the Office for Budget Responsibility warns that the total cost of social security (including tax credits and state pensions) between 2010 and 2015–16 will be some £20billion higher than was forecast in 2010. The latest figure revised figure for 2015–16 is £218.6billion.

The Treasury says that the increase is partly due to the system of raising benefits by the previous September's inflation which triggered a rise of 5.2 per cent in April 2012. Most benefit rises are now to be capped at one per cent for three years.

Work must be seen to pay and a life on welfare must be made to seem infinitely less attractive than it does now

Meanwhile reforms undertaken by the Department of Welfare and Pensions are costing more than expected to implement exacerbating the Government's inability to bring these unsustainable costs down though the DWP still insists that the changes will save billions.

But however the figures are explained, the truth is that we still live in a culture of benefit dependency as is seen in figures from the think tank the Policy Exchange which found 970,000 part–time staff avoid taking on more hours because they would lose benefits.

Work must be seen to pay and a life on welfare must be made to seem infinitely less attractive than it does now. Until that fundamental change occurs, the bills will keep going up.